Portable deck



W. A. BOX

PORTABLE DECK Jan. 31, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 7, 1964 INVENTOR.

W/LL/AM A. BOX 99ww4h 1 1%;

Attorney Jan. 31, 1967 w. A. BOX 3,301,149

PORTABLE DECK Filed Jan. '7, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM A. BOX

Attorney W. A. BOX

Jan. 31, 1967 3 sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 7, 1964 n 0 w M N WILL/AM A. BOX gmafi M Aiforney United States 3,301,149 Patented Jan. 31, 1967 ice 3,301,149 PORTABLE DECK William A. Box, Fullerton, Calif., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 336,294 6 Claims. (CI. 94-43) This invention relates to a portable deck and more particularly to a portable deck made up of a plurality of mats for use as a landing field for airplanes. A landing mat is used to prevent soil failure by spreading the load of an aircrafts wheels over a large area. The use of jet airplanes has resulted in a tremendous increase in load and the portable decks previously used are no longer satisfactory. For that reason other portable decks have been devised, but these have not proved entirely satisfactory for various reasons such as cost, difficulty in handling when assembling the mats and problems arising because of the need for carrying uniform loads in two directions in the same plane.

- It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a portable deck which is easy to assemble, which is relatively inexpensive, and can withstand the heavy loads.

Another object is to provide a mat for use in a portable deck or the like which is strong and yet light enough to permit manual handling.

I These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the followingspecification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic plan view showing a portable deck:

FIGURE 2 is a plan view, with a part broken away, showing a mat of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line III-III of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line IV'IV of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view showing a connection between two mats;

FIGURE 6 is a developed view of a sheet used in the mat of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a view showing a detail of the mat;

FIGURE 8 is an end view of FIGURE7;

FIGURE 9 is a view showing another detail of the invention;

FIGURE 10 is an end view of FIGURE 9;

7 FIGURE 11 is a perspective view showing one corner of the mat with parts broken away;

i FIGURE 12 is an exploded perspective view showing another corner of the mat;

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of a detail; and

FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of another detail.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2- indicates a mat used in assembling the portable deck of my invention. It is preferred that the mat have a square configuration. One particular mat is 48 in. square and 2 in. thick and includes forty-eight steel sheets 4 which are preferably made of No. gauge United States Steel Corten which is a high strength low alloy steel having a minimum yield point of 50,000 psi. Each of the sheets 4 has longitudinal flanges 6 and 8 one along each edge, a projection 10 having an end flange 12 and longitudinal flanges 14 and 16, end flanges 18 and 20 adjacent the projection 10, a cut out portion 22 at the end opposite projection 10, longitudinal flanges 24 and 26 on each side of the cut out portion 22, a flange 28 at the base of the cut out portion 22, and end flanges 30 and 32. All of the flanges extend outwardly at an angle of 90 in the same direction from the sheet 4. Twenty-four transverse slots 34 extend from one edge of the sheet 4 to the center thereof. A plurality of holes 36 are provided through the center of the sheet 4. The

sheet 4 is shown prior to bending in FIGURE 6. Half of the sheets 4 are arranged with their slots 34 upwardly and the other half arranged at right angles thereto with their slots 34 downwardly and are connected together at the slots 34 with the projections 10 extending along two adjacent sides of the mat 2 and the cut out portions 22 adjacent the other two sides of the mat.

A T-shaped plate 38 (FIGURE 14) is secured to each other of the sheets 4 at the projection 10 to serve as a reinforcement. This is preferably No. 18 gauge Corten steel. A U-shaped plate 40 (FIGURE 13) is secured to each side of each plate 4 around the opening 22. The plates 40 are preferably made of No. 18 gauge stainless steel. A bent plate 42 (FIGURES 9 and 10) of general U-shaped construction and having flanges 44 extends between and is secured to the projections 10 along two adjacent sides of the mats with the flanges 44 adjacent the top and bottom of the mat as best seen in FIGURE 11. Six U-shaped reinforcing members 46 are secured in spaced apart relationship within each member 42 and an opening 48 is provided through the members 42 and 46 as shown in FIGURES 9 and 10. It will be seen that the member-s 42 and 46 provide a tongue 50 along one side of the mat and a tongue 52 along an adjacent side.

A generally U-shaped member 54 (FIGURES 7 and 8) having flanges 56 extends between and is secured to the sheets 4 within the openings 22 along the other two sides of the mat as best shown in FIGURE 12. Six U- shaped reinforcing members 58 are secured to each member 54 in spaced apart relationship. The flanges 56 are cut away at 60 in line with a hole 61 in the members 54 and 58. The members 54 and 58 provide a groove 62 along a third side of the mat and a groove 63 along the adjacent fourth side. Flanged top cover sheet 64 and flanged bottom sheet 66 complete the mat. The flanges of the sheets 64 and 66 extend over the ends of members 42 and 54. Holes 67 are provided in sheet 64 in alignment with the holes 61. The mats are preferably made of Corten steel except the plates 40 which are prefer-ably made of stainless steel.

In assembling the mats, the parts are preferably secured together by means of an adhesive such as that sold by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company as No. EC-2214. After the sheets 4 are assembled they are secured together by means of adhesive extending along the joints thereof. The members 38 and 40 are also secured to the sheets 4 by means of the adhesive after which the members 42 with the members 46 secured thereto by means of adhesive are attached to projecting ends of the sheets 4, the flanges 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 providing contact surfaces for the adhesive. The members 54 with the members 58 secured thereto by adhesive are also secured to the opposite ends of the sheets 4, the flanges 24, 26, 28,30 and 32 providing contact surfaces for the adhesive. The plates 64 and 66 are then secured by means of the adhesive to the flanges 6 and 8 and to the members 42 and 54, this being by means of the adhesive.

In assembling the mats 2 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 5, the tongues 50 and 52 of one mat will extend into grooves 62 and 63 of adjacent mats with the holes 48, 61 and 67 in alignment. A pin 68 is passed through each set of aligned holes and will rest upon the bottom sheet 66. It is preferred that the mats be arranged as shown in FIGURE 1 with the joints therebetween arranged at an angle A to the direction of travel of a wheel passing thereover. If desired the end mats 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G and 2H may have a portion cut off so as to provide a straight line at the end of the deck.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made and that the mat may be 3 1 used for other purposes without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A portable deck comprising a plurality of connected rectangular mats adapted for rapid attachment and detachment, each of said mats comprising a plurality of parallel steel plates having top and bottom longitudinal flanges and a slot extending from the top to the center thereof, a plurality of parallel steel plates arranged at right angles to the first named steel plates, said second named plates having top and bottom longitudinal flanges and a slot extending from the bottom to the center thereof, said first named plates intersecting said second named plates at the said slots, a projection at one end of said first and second named plates, said first and second named plates having a cut out portion at the other end, said projections being arranged along two adjacent sides of said mat, said out out portions being aligned along the other two sides of said mat, a steel plate extending between and over said aligned projections on each of said adjacent sides to form a tongue along each of said adjacent sides, a steel plate extending between said aligned cut out portions on each of said other sides to form a groove along each of said other sides, a top steel cover sheet secured to the top flanges of said first and second named steel plates, a bottom steel cover sheet secured to the bottom. flanges of said first and second named steel plates, the tongues of each mat extending into the grooves of adjacent mats and the grooves of each mat receiving the tongues of adjacent mats, and means holding the mats in assembled relationship.

2, A portable desk according to claim 1 in which the parts of said mats are fastened together with an adhesive and the means holding the mats in assembled relationship includes aligned holes in said tongues and grooves, and a pin extending through. said aligned holes.

3. A mat comprising a plurality of parallel steel plates having top and bottom longitudinal flanges and a. slot extending from the top to the center thereof, a plurality of parallel steel plates arranged at right angles to the first named steel plates, said second named plates having top and bottom longitudinal flanges and a slot extending from the bottom to the center thereof, said first named. plates intersecting said second named plates. at the said slots, a projection at one end of said first and second named plates, said first and second named plates each having a cut out portion at the other end, said projections being aligned along two adjacent'sides of said mat, said out out portions being aligned along the other two sides of said mat, a steel plate extending between and over said aligned projections on each of said adjacent sides to form a tongue along each of said adjacent sides, a steelplate extending between said aligned cut out portions on each of said other sides to form a groove along each of said other sides, a top steel cover sheet secured to the top flanges of said first and second named steel plates, and a bottom steel cover sheet secured tothe bottom flanges of said first and second named steel plates.

4. A mat according to claim 3 in which the parts of extending from one edge toward the center thereof, a second set of parallel metal plates arranged at right angles to the first named plates, said second named plates having longitudinal flanges along each edge and spaced slots extending from one edge toward the center thereof, said first named plates intersecting said second named plates at the said slots, the width of the plates in the first set being equal to the width of the plates in the second set and the combined length of the slots in'the plates of the first and second sets being at least. equal to the width of the plates, a projection at one end of the plates of one set and a cut outportion at the other end thereof, said projections being aligned along one side of said mat, said out out portions being aligned along the side of said mat opposite said one side, a metal plate extending between and over said aligned projections to forma tongue, a metal plate extending between said aligned cut out portions to form agroove, ametal cover sheet secured to the flanges of the plates of both sets along one edge ofthe plates, and a metal cover sheet secured to the flanges of the plates of both sets along the other edge of the plates.

.6. A portable deck comprising a plurality of connected rectangular mats adapted for rapidattachrnent and detachment, each of said 'rnats comprising a first set of parallel metal plates having top and bottom'longitudinal flanges and spaced slots extending from the top of the center thereof, a second set of parallel metal plates arranged at right angles to the first named plates, said second named plates having top and bottom longitudinal flanges and spaced slots extending from the bottom to. the center thereof, said first named plates intersecting said second named plates at the said slots, a projection at one end of the plates of one set and a cut out portion at the other end thereof, said projections being aligned along onevside of said mat, said cut out portions being aligned along the side of said mat opposite said one side, a metal plate extending between and over said aligned projections .to form a tongue, a metal plate extending between said aligned cut out portions to form a groove, a top metal cover sheet secured to the. top flanges of said first and second named plates, a bottom metal cover'sheet secured to the bottom flanges of said first and second named plates, the tongue of each mat extending into the groove of an adjacent mat and the groove of each mat receiving the tongue of an adjacent mat, and means holding the mats in assembled relationhip. 1

References (Jited by thel lxaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,053,135 9/1936 Dalton 5.2-,615 2,104,550 1/1938 Bates 52580 2,849,758 9/1958 Plumley 52 595 3,001,613 9/1961 McBerty 52-580 3,174,411 3/l9 65 Oestrich 94j4 FOREIGN PATENTS 557,844 6/1957 Belgium. 39,609 10/1931 France.

0 I JACOB L, NACKENOFF, Primary Examined 

1. A PORTABLE DECK COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CONNECTED RECTANGULAR MATS ADAPTED FOR RAPID ATTACHMENT AND DETACHMENT, EACH OF SAID MATS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL STEEL PLATES HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM LONGITUDINAL FLANGES AND A SLOT EXTENDING FROM THE TOP TO THE CENTER THEREOF, A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL STEEL PLATES ARRANGED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE FIRST NAMED STEEL PLATES, SAID SECOND NAMED PLATES HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM LONGITUDINAL FLANGES AND A SLOT EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE CENTER THEREOF SAID FIRST NAMED PLATES INTERSECTING SAID SECOND NAMED PLATES AT THE SLOTS, A PROJECTION AT ONE END OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND NAMED PLATES, SAID FIRST AND SECOND NAMED PLATES HAVING A CUT OUT PORTION AT THE OTHER END, SAID PROJECTIONS BEING ARRANGED ALONG TWO ADJACENT SIDES OF SAID MAT, SAID CUT OUT PORTIONS BEING ALIGNED ALONG THE OTHER TWO SIDES OF SAID MAT, A STEEL PLATE EXTENDING BETWEEN AND OVER SAID ALIGNED PROJECTIONS ON EACH OF SAID ADJACENT SIDES TO FORM A TONGUE ALONG EACH OF SAID ADJACENT SIDES, A STEEL PLATE EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID ALIGNED CUT OUT PORTIONS ON EACH OF SAID OTHER SIDES TO FORM A GROOVE ALONG EACH OF SAID OTHER SIDES, A TOP STEEL COVER SHEET SECURED TO THE TOP FLANGES OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND NAMED STEEL PLATES, A BOTTOM STEEL COVER SHEET SECURED TO THE BOTTOM FLANGES OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND NAMED STEEL PLATES, THE TONGUES OF EACH MAT EXTENDING INTO THE GROOVES OF ADJACENT MATS AND THE GROOVES OF EACH MAT RECEIVING THE TONGUES OF ADJACENT MATS, AND MEANS HOLDING THE MATS IN ASSEMBLED RELATIONSHIP. 